Foeball Reflex Training Device

ABSTRACT

A reflex training device having a target object, such as a spongy rubber ball, connected to a user by an extendable tether such as a fabric covered elastomer. The extendable tether attaches at one end to a users head via an attachment assembly such as a headband. At the other end, the extendable tether attaches to the target object. The target object may have a through-hole that includes a hollow conical frustum to allow the extendable tether to be fixed to an anchor assembly with the hollow conical frustum in order to removably attach the target object to the extendable tether.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application claims priority to U.S. Ser. No. 61/447,966 filed on Mar. 1, 2011, the contents of which are fully incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a reflex training device, and more particularly to an elastically tethered training punch ball.

2. Background of the Invention

Reflex training devices for sports like boxing and martial arts have traditionally been stationary devices such as punch balls tethered by a spring. Such devices tend to oscillate with a predictable frequency and amplitude. Athletes can, therefore, develop fixed rhythms that allow them to effectively tackle such devices but only have limited effect on improving their reflexes.

Recently, reflex training devices have been developed that may have highly unpredictable behavior. These devices typically consist of a small rubber ball tethered to the athlete by an elastic or partially elastic leash. Although they are widely sought after by martial arts devotees, these devices have some limitations, not least of which is that in order to have the necessary degree of attachment to withstand repeated use, the leash is typically attached to the ball by introducing it into the ball when molding the ball. This means that if the leash is damaged or broken, the device does not function. It also means that the user is limited to one leash per device. It would be highly desirable to have a reflex training device that has both unpredictable behavior and that also allows easy attachment of new and replacement leashes have the same or different elastic properties and behavior.

2. Description of the Related Art

The relevant prior art involving tethered training devices includes:

DE 202006000584U1, a German Design Registration, entitled “Training Device” that was published on 20 Apr. 2006 and describes a training device for ball games, skill sports or martial arts. A particularly preferred embodiment of the training device is characterized in that the pendulum line is composed of an elastic material. This has the advantage that the spherical object experiences a restoring force. The restoring force increases the dynamics of the device by causing the pendulum object experiences a force opposite the direction of its motion component and jump back this way in an unpredictable ways. In a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention, the fastening means is a headband. This ensures secure and reliable attachment to the body of a person using the exercise equipment, and ensures that the plane of motion is at head level. This is especially advantageous for training in martial arts. The pendulum object can be designed in various ways. Preferably, the spherical object is permanently connected to the pendulum line. The training is claimed to be demanding and effective. The application for this training device is the mobile fitness, coordination, technique, response and impact training. The claimed innovative advantage of this training tool is that it is not tied to a fixed location.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,042,404 entitled “Football Practice Gear” issued to George R. Masters on Jul. 3, 1962 that describes a device having an elastic tether or cord attached by a swivel and a snaffle hook to a ring affixed to an adjustable fabric headband. This headband is equipped with a buckle whereby it can be adjusted to fit any player. A strap runs over the top of the head to aid in securing the headband 14 in its correct position. Rings are affixed to headband to provide alternate points of attachment for tether by means of snaffle hook.

An additional swivel and snaffle hook serve to connect the other end of the tether to a regulation football which has a leather or plastic loop sewed into one end for holding a ring to receive snaffle hook. The elastic tether can be made of latex in strap form as shown or can consist of a bundle of elastic cords sheathed in stretchable fabric such as the “Bee Gee” cords used in the flying services.

The primary purpose of this practice gear is to give the football player extra training in passing and receiving, but other incidental uses will become apparent. The player dons the headband 14 and buckles it to a snug fit. If he is right handed, he hooks the tether by means of snaffle hook to the ring over his right temple. With the ball attached to the other end of the tether it is now ready for play. He may throw the ball toward a selected target in any of the usual ways and when the ball reaches the end of the tether and stretches it to the limit of the ball's energy, it returns to the player as if passed back by another player, except that it returns more quickly than if caught and thrown back. This puts the player on his mettle to be ready to receive the ball and results in a quicker practice session than if two or more players were taking part. If the player uses the popular spiral throw the swivels and allow the ball to continue its spinning motion even on its return and the player can learn to receive a spiral ball as if it were thrown by another player. The flexibility of the gear also makes it possible for the player to turn and run away from his throw and receive the ball over this shoulder while running as is usually required in receiving forward passes. The tether being attached to the ring over his right temple helps to return the ball to the best position for a good catch.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,130,276 issued to Tricarico on Dec. 19, 1978 entitled “Exercising device” that describes an exercising device has an elastic loop positionable around a user's neck and secured by an adjustable strap connected as a loop to a ball so that the ball may be kneed, kicked and thrown.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,352,484 issued to Killion on Mar. 5, 2002 entitled “Apparatus for soccer training” that describes a sports ball that is held in a novel manner within a cradle having multiple arms encircling the ball and attached by Velcro® to a set of strips attached to a flexible tether line fastened to a person's waist. The ball is able to be kicked or punched and returned to the striker in each cycle.

Various implements are known in the art, but fail to address all of the problems solved by the invention described herein. One embodiment of this invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings and will be described in more detail herein below.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a reflex training device that has a target object connected to a user by an extendable tether.

The target object may, for instance, be a small spongy rubber ball. The extendable tether may, for instance, be a fabric covered elastomer.

In a preferred embodiment, the extendable tether may be attached at one end to a user's head via an attachment assembly that may include a headband. At the other end, the extendable tether may be attached to the target object. Attachment of the extendable tether to the target object may be via a through hole that includes a hollow conical frustum. A larger opening of the hollow conical frustum may be located at the surface of the target object and the smaller opening at, or close to, a center point of the target object and joined to the rest of the through hole. The extendable tether may pass along the through hole and enter the hollow conical frustum from the smaller opening. A suitable anchor assembly may be fixed to the extendable tether so that the target object remains securely attached to the extendable tether.

Therefore, the present invention succeeds in conferring the following, and others not mentioned, desirable and useful benefits and objectives.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a reflex training device that has highly unpredictable behavior.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a reflex training device that allows easy attachment of new and replacement leashes.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a reflex training device that is inexpensive to manufacture.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a reflex training device that is easy to attach to a user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an isometric view of a person using a reflex training device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows an isometric view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of a portion of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of a portion of a further preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 shows a cross-sectional view of a portion of another preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows a cross-sectional view of a portion of yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. Identical elements in the various figures are identified with the same reference numerals.

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiment of the present invention. Such embodiments are provided by way of explanation of the present invention, which is not intended to be limited thereto. In fact, those of ordinary skill in the art may appreciate upon reading the present specification and viewing the present drawings that various modifications and variations can be made thereto.

FIG. 1 shows an isometric view of a person using a reflex training device of the present invention.

The user 105 is shown wearing a body attachment assembly 110 that in this embodiment may be an adjustable headband. A target object 120 is shown connected to the body attachment assembly 110 by an extendable tether 190. The target object 120 may, for instance, be, but is not limited to, a soft spherical ball. The extendable tether 190 may, for instance, be, but is not limited to, a fabric covered elastomer.

The user 105 may train with the reflex training device 100 by punching the target object 120 with one the user's fist 106. This may cause the target object 120 to move away from the user 105 and therefore stretch the extendable tether 190. The stretched extendable tether 190 may then recoil, propelling towards the point of attachment of the extendable tether 190 to the body attachment assembly 110. The exact return path may be highly unpredictable as it may depend not only on how the target object 120 was struck, but also on any movement of the user, particularly the user's head. Dodging, or counter punching, the returning target object 120 may require rapid reaction by the user, thereby training their reflexes or ability to react to an unpredictable event.

FIG. 2 shows an isometric view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

The reflex training device 100 may consist of a target object 120 connected to a body attachment assembly 110 by an extendable tether 190. The extendable tether 190 may be connected at a first end 192 to the body attachment assembly 110 by a connecting ring 330 that may in turn connect to a pivoting clip 310 that then connects to a flexible loop 320.

Having the connecting ring 330 joined by the pivoting clip 310 that then connects to the flexible loop 320 may allow sufficient rotational flexibility to prevent the extendable tether 190 from becoming entangled during use.

The body attachment assembly 110 may, for instance, be, but is not limited to, an adjustable headband 210 that may include a hook and loop closure assembly 220.

The body attachment assembly 110 may also include a reinforcement patch 340 in the vicinity of the flexible loop 320 that may impart additional strength to the attachment.

The other, or second, end 194 of the extendable tether 190 may be attached to the target object 120. This attachment may be effected by passing the extendable tether 190 along a portion of a through-hole 130 in the target object 120 to an anchor assembly 196.

The extendable tether 190 may be made of a suitably elastic material such as, but not limited to, natural or synthetic polyisoprene, polybutadiene, chloroprene rubber, polychloroprene, neoprene, baypren, butyl rubber, styrene-butadiene rubber, nitrile rubber, ethylene propylene rubber, polyacrylic rubber and silicone rubber or some combination thereof.

The target object 120 may be made of a suitable material such as, but not limited to, a rubber, a plastic, leather, paper, a fabric, or some combination thereof.

The target object 120 may be partially or fully hollowed out and filled with a suitable filling material such as, but not limited to, foam, a sponge, an inflating gas, a granular substance, a powder and a liquid, or some combination thereof.

The target object 120 may have a shape such as, but not limited to, a sphere, a cube, an obloid and a cylinder, or some combination thereof.

FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of a portion of a preferred embodiment of the present invention. In the view of FIG. 3, the target object 120 is shown as a spherical ball, cut approximately in half along a plan containing the centerline of the hollow conical frustum 140 and the rest of the through-hole 130 that the hollow conical frustum 140 connects with. The larger opening 150 of the hollow conical frustum 140 may be on the surface of the target object 120, while the other end of the hollow conical frustum 140 may be located in a vicinity of the center point 180 of the target object 120.

The second end 194 of the extendable tether 190 may be inserted into the through-hole 130 and connected to an anchor assembly 196 located within the hollow conical frustum 140.

FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of a portion of a further preferred embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, the through-hole 130 in the target object 120 may be the result of two hollow conical frustums 140. The smaller openings 170 of the two hollow conical frustums 140 may join in a vicinity of the center point 180 of the target object 120. The larger openings 150 of the two hollow conical frustums 140 may both lie on the surface 160 of the target object 120.

The second end 194 of the extendable tether 190 may pass through one hollow conical frustum 140, past the center point 180 of the target object 120 and partly into the second hollow conical frustum 140 where it may be attached to a suitable anchor assembly 196.

The anchor assembly 196 may, for instance, be, but is not limited to, a hard spherical ball, a conical metallic crimp, a ring through which the second end 194 passes and is knotted back onto the extendable tether 190, or some combination thereof.

There may be a second anchor assembly 196 that may grip the extendable tether 190 and be located within the other hollow conical frustum 140.

One of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that although the reflex training device 100 with the through-hole 130 is shown with a hollow conical frustum 140, the hollow conical frustum 140 may be replaced using a variety of other shapes as long as there is a narrower end located in a vicinity of the center point 180 of the target object 120. The through-hole 130 may for instance include two or more cylinders of different diameter.

FIG. 5 shows a cross-sectional view of a portion of another preferred embodiment of the present invention.

In this preferred embodiment, the reflex training device 100 may include, but is not limited to, a body attachment assembly 110 that may be removably attached to a user's body and a substantially spherical target object 120 having a target through-hole 130 that may have a hollow conical frustum 140 having a larger, frustum-opening 150 of the hollow conical frustum located in a vicinity of a first portion of the target-surface 145, and a smaller frustum-opening 155 located in a vicinity of a second portion of the target-surface 165. In addition the hollow conical frustum 140 may be located such that the frustum axis 175 lies on, or close to, a diameter 185 of the substantially spherical target object 120.

As in many of the other embodiments discussed herein, an elastically extendable tether 190 may have a first end that may be removably attached to the body attachment assembly. A second end of the elastically extendable tether 190 may extend part way through the target through-hole 130 and may be secured to an anchor assembly 196 positioned within the hollow conical frustum. The anchor assembly may be sized and shaped to fit into the hollow, conical frustum via the larger, frustum-opening 150 but not via said smaller frustum-opening 155.

In the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the anchor assembly may further have a plug element 510. The plug element 510 may, for instance, have a plug-element outer-surface 520 shaped and sized to be a snug fit to the hollow conical frustum forming a through-hole through the target object 120.

The plug element 510 may have a plug-element small-end 530 and a plug-element large-end 550. The plug-element, small-end 530 may be sized and shaped to be a flush fit with a small-opening perimeter 540 of the hollow conical frustum.

The plug-element large-end 550 may be sized and shaped to be slightly smaller than a large-opening perimeter 560 of the hollow conical frustum. In this way, when assembled, the plug-element large-end may be recessed beneath the larger opening of the hollow conical frustum. The amount by which the plug-element large-end 550 lies beneath the surface of the target object 120, i.e., the recess amount 570 may be adjusted in a range from 0 mm to 1-5 mm, depending in part on the type of material the target object is constructed. A softer target object may, for instance, require a deeper recess, perhaps even as much as 10 mm.

The plug element 510 may also have an outer screw-thread 580 and an inner screw-thread 590. Both of the screw-threads may be located in a vicinity of the plug-element large-end.

The outer screw-thread 580 may, for instance, be sized and shaped to screw directly into the material of the substantially spherical target object 120, or the substantially spherical target object 120 may itself be threaded to accommodate the outer screw-thread 580.

The inner screw-thread 590 may be formed on an inner surface of a cylindrical, plug element through-hole 585 that may extend from the plug-element large-end to the plug-element small-end. The cylindrical, plug-element through-hole 585 may, for instance, be aligned, when assembled to be coaxial with hollow conical frustum 140, i.e., a cylinder axis 595 of the cylindrical, plug-element through-hole 585 may be substantially aligned with the frustum axis 175.

The inner screw-thread 590 may, for instance, be used to house a piston screw 515. In a preferred embodiment, the piston screw 515 may have a piston-screw cylindrical-rod 525 with a rod screw-thread 535 in a vicinity of a piston-screw-rod first-end 555. The rod screw-thread may, for instance, be shaped and sized to be a screw fit to the inner screw-thread of the plug element. In addition, when assembled, the rod cylinder-axis 545 of the cylindrical rod may be aligned with, or close to being aligned with, both the frustum axis 175 and the cylinder axis 595.

In addition, when assembled, the piston-screw-rod first-end 555 may be substantially in alignment with the surface of the target object 120. This alignment may, for instance, be occur in a vicinity of the larger, frustum-opening 150. A piston-screw-rod second-end 565 may, for instance, be located, when aligned, in a region between the center of the target object and the small opening of the hollow conical frustum. In a preferred embodiment, the piston-screw-rod second-end 565 may be located close to the small opening than to the center of the target object.

The piston-screw cylindrical-rod 525 preferably has at least one lateral through-hole 575. This lateral through-hole 575 may, for instance, be located in a vicinity of the piston-screw-rod second-end 565. The lateral through-hole may be shaped and sized to be an attachment fit for the elastically extendable tether. The attachment may, for instance, be by means of an enlargement such as, but not limited to, a knot in the tether, a device crimped or temporarily clamped to the tether, or by being clamped against the wall of the frustum or some combination thereof.

FIG. 6 shows a cross-sectional view of a portion of yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 6 contains many elements described in earlier figures, in particularly in FIG. 5. In addition, however, the embodiment of FIG. 6 has a cylindrical, plug-element through- hole 585 that may have both a large-diameter plug-hole section 610, and a small-diameter plug-hole section 630.

The large-diameter plug-hole section 610 may, for instance, extend from the plug-element large-end 550 to a plug-hole large-to-small-diameter transition-point 620.

The small-diameter plug-hole section 630 may then extend from the plug-hole large-to-small-diameter transition-point 620 to the plug-element, small-end.

In addition, the piston screw 515 may also have two sections: a large-diameter, piston-screw section 640 and a small-diameter, piston-screw section 660.

The large-diameter, piston-screw section 640 may, for instance, extend from the plug-element large-end 550 to a piston-screw large-to-small-diameter transition-point 650. The piston-screw large-to-small-diameter transition-point 650 may, for instance, be located between the center point 180 of the target object 120 and the plug-element large-end 550. In a preferred embodiment, the piston-screw large-to-small-diameter transition-point 650 may be located closer to the plug-element large-end 550 than to the center point 180.

The small-diameter, piston-screw section 660 may begin at the piston-screw large-to-small-diameter transition-point 650 and end to terminates proximate to, but before reaching, when assembled, the plug-hole large-to-small-diameter transition-point 620 of the plug element 510.

In a preferred embodiment, the diameter of the small-diameter, piston-screw section 660 may be sufficiently smaller than a diameter of the large-diameter plug-hole section 610, that the space between them may form a tether storage region 670. This tether storage region 670 may, for instance, be used to store and extra length of the elastically extendable tether 190 so that a user may lengthen or shorten the elastically extendable tether 190 quickly during a training session.

In a preferred embodiment, the plug-element large-end 550 may be formed into a screw head 680, for rapid and easy disassembly and reassembly of the reflex training device 100. This may, for instance, be useful in adjusting the length of, or in replacing the elastically extendable tether 190. The screw head 680 may be any suitable type of screw such as, but not limited to, a slotted screw, a Phillips screw head, a hexagonal head, or some combination thereof.

Although this invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is to be understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of illustration and that numerous changes in the details of construction and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention. 

1: A reflex training device, comprising: a body attachment assembly, removably attached to a user's body; a substantially spherical target object having a target through-hole that comprises a hollow conical frustum having a larger, frustum-opening of said hollow conical frustum in a vicinity of a first portion of the target-surface, and a smaller frustum-opening in a vicinity of a second portion of the target-surface such that the frustum axis lies substantially on a diameter of said substantially spherical target object; and an elastically extendable tether having a first end removably attached to said body attachment assembly and a second end extending part way through said target through-hole and secured to an anchor assembly positioned within said hollow conical frustum, said anchor assembly being sized and shaped to fit into said hollow conical frustum via said larger, frustum-opening but not via said smaller frustum-opening. 2: The reflex training device of claim 1, wherein said anchor assembly further comprises: a plug element having a plug-element outer-surface shaped and sized to be a snug fit to said hollow conical frustum, and having a plug-element, small-end, sized and shaped to be a flush fit with a small-opening perimeter of said hollow conical frustum, and with a plug-element large-end, sized and shaped to be slightly smaller than a large-opening perimeter of said hollow conical frustum, such that, when assembled, said plug-element large-end is recessed beneath said larger opening of said hollow conical frustum by a recess amount, and wherein said plug element has both an outer screw-thread and an inner screw-thread, both in a vicinity of said plug-element large-end, and wherein said plug-element has a cylindrical, plug element through-hole extending from said plug-element large-end to said plug-element small-end and wherein the cylinder axis of said cylindrical, plug-element through-hole is substantially aligned with said frustum axis of said hollow conical frustum; and a piston screw comprising: a piston-screw cylindrical-rod having a rod screw-thread in a vicinity of a piston-screw-rod first-end, said rod screw-thread shaped and sized to be a screw fit to said inner screw-thread of said plug element such that a rod cylinder-axis of said cylindrical rod is substantially aligned with both said frustum axis 175 and said cylinder axis 595, and when assembled, said piston-screw-rod first-end 555 is substantially aligned with the surface of said substantially spherical target object 120 in a vicinity of said larger, frustum-opening 150, and wherein, when assembled a piston-screw-rod second-end 565 is located between the center of said substantially spherical object and said small opening of said hollow conical frustum, and wherein said piston-screw cylindrical-rod 525 has at least one lateral through-hole 575 in a vicinity of said piston-screw-rod second-end 565, said lateral through hole shaped and sized to be an attachment fit for said elastically extendable tether. 3: The reflex training device of claim wherein said cylindrical, plug-element through-hole of said plug element further comprises a large-diameter plug-hole section extending from said plug-element large-end to a plug-hole large-to-small-diameter transition-point, and a small-diameter plug-hole section extending from said plug-hole large-to-small-diameter transition-point to said plug-element, small-end; and wherein piston screw 515 further comprises a large-diameter, piston-screw section 640 that extends from said plug-element large-end 550 to a piston-screw large-to-small-diameter transition-point 650 located between said center point 180 of said substantially spherical target object 120 and said plug-element large-end 550; and a small-diameter, piston-screw section 660 that terminates proximate to, but before reaching said plug-hole large-to-small-diameter transition-point 620 of said plug element 510 when assembled, and wherein the diameter of said small-diameter, piston-screw section 660 is smaller than a diameter of said large-diameter plug-hole section 610 that a space between them forms a tether storage region 670 and wherein the plug-element large-end 550 is formed into a screw head
 680. 4: The reflex training device of claim 1 wherein said target through-hole 130 further comprises a second hollow conical frustum, co-axial with said hollow conical frustum 140, laterally inverted and sized and shaped so that the two connected frustums have a minimum diameter in a vicinity of the center point 180 of said substantially spherical target object
 120. 5: The reflex training device of claim 1 wherein said body attachment assembly comprises a headband having a hook and loop closure assembly. 6: The reflex training device of claim 1 wherein said target object has a shape that is substantially one of a sphere, a cube, an obloid and a cylinder, or some combination thereof. 7: The reflex training device of claim 1 wherein said target object has a filling that is comprised of a material in the form of one of a foam, a sponge, an inflating gas, a granular substance, a powder and a liquid, or some combination thereof. 8: The reflex training device of claim 1 wherein target object is substantially a sphere comprised of a spongy rubber and said extendable tether is comprised of a fabric covered elastomer. 10: The reflex training device of claim 1 wherein said target object is comprised of one of a rubber, a plastic, leather, paper, a fabric, or some combination thereof. 11: The reflex training device of claim 1 wherein said first end of said extendable tether is removably attached to said body attachment assembly via a pivoting clip and a flexible loop secured to said body attachment assembly. 12: The reflex training device of claim 8 further comprising a connecting ring for attaching said extendable tether to said pivoting clip and wherein said flexible loop is attached to said body attachment assembly via a reinforcement patch. 13: The reflex training device of claim 1 wherein said extendable tether is comprised of one of natural or synthetic polyisoprene, polybutadiene, chloroprene rubber, polychloroprene, neoprene, baypren, butyl rubber, styrene-butadiene rubber, nitrile rubber, ethylene propylene rubber, polyacrylic rubber and silicone rubber or some combination thereof. 